Running Magazine Article

Give Yourself an Ego Boost with Running

There are many benefits to be gained from running, including boosting your ego. Often, you may get this boost right from the start, before you even start to notice the many other benefits. Running will push you, physically and mentally, to do more, work harder, and push yourself, not only in running, but eventually, in all aspects of your life. Soon you will find that you have more confidence in yourself and your abilities, and that you are ready to face any obstacle that life may throw at you, which if your life is like mine, occurs quite frequently.

You don’t have to suddenly start running miles everyday to get the ego boost I’m speaking of, so don’t worry there. Even if you are used to little or no physical activity, just running out to check the mail and back everyday will start you off on the right path. The more you run, the more you find that you are able to run, and the further you will be able to go. When you reach a new milestone, such as running down the block and back, you will feel as if you have conquered the world. For many people, especially those who don’t exercise on a regular basis, they may actually end up walking more than running at first, but gradually, the tide will change, and you will no longer need to walk to catch your breath.

One mistake that many new runners make is that they try to start off by doing too much too soon, and find that they physically can’t keep up, and so they quit completely. If you gradually work on it little by little, doing more and more while giving your body time to adjust in between, you will find that you will be much more successful. You can’t go from being a couch potato to being a winning marathon runner overnight, so keep that in mind!

Running requires as much mental effort as it does physical, if not more so. You have to psyche yourself up for the run, and set goals along the way. Your mental efforts will be used as motivation, to help you push yourself further than ever before, so that you can reach your goals. If you learn how to apply this same mental skill to other areas of your life, you will find that you will be much more successful in everything you do. You can use your mental skills to convince yourself that you can do anything, which means that you already over halfway there.

If you learn how to set goals for yourself, goals that you can attain, you will get an even bigger ego boost along the way. So, in a sense, as you build up your physical strength and endurance, you boost other areas of your life as well, which make for a much better whole!